Disharmony: Notes and Scars
by InfinityIllusion
Summary: The Winter War left its mark on all of the Karakura Quartet. Now, returning to school, they have to face the challenge of their peers. The other students watch and wonder, while the teachers decide that something needs to be done.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Sorry it's taken me so long to post anything. Real life had to sort itself out. Anyways, this is a darker take on one of the problems I would think Ichigo and co. would find themselves in once they returned to school. Please note, this is AU. Here, the war against Aizen did not consist of potshots, one abduction, a rescue, and a final battle. There is no way that such a war would really happen that way if Aizen was the genius that he's claimed to be. Also, Ichigo and the others had a larger part in the war, essentially acting as backup to the other divisions. They did receive more training, but half of it was experience.

I'm looking at this being a two-shot, so hopefully I'll get the next chapter up soon. I'm kinda sorry that ya'll are getting this, but since this plotbunny has been one of the most insistent in leaving the corral, I had to let it go.

**Warnings:** Mm, scars of both the mental and physical kind?

**Disclaimer:** I do not, and more than likely shall never, own Bleach or any of the rights associated with it. Those belong to Tite Kubo. If I did own Bleach, I'm sure you're all aware of some of the changes I'd make.

* * *

There was one problem that everyone seemed to forget about with the transfer of wounds between the soul and body: the scars transfer as well.

~IiI~

They'd been so _glad,_ so _relieved_. The war was over. They didn't have deal with ambushes, the random Hollow sightings all over Karakura, possible threats to family and friends constantly on their minds. And they'd returned. Not whole, not well, but_ present_, in a way that no one was ever sure they'd actually accomplish in the end. After all, all's fair in love and war, right?

~IiI~

Against all odds, they were healing, slowly returning to some form of normal – because normal had become (and to an extent had always been) relative for them, and so what if they always sought each other out when they left the moderate sanctuaries of their respective homes? It was reassurance as much as protection. Numbers did tend to improve one's chances of surviving an attack and they'd all watched each other's backs during the war. There was always a certain anxiety that crept up on them when another wasn't close.

~I(POV Change)I~

So, once they were deemed _well enough_, they'd returned to school. Their peers could tell that something was different about them. Showing up to school in one tight group, wary faces constantly checking their surroundings, more guarded with an edge that those they once called schoolmates (because these people that showed up couldn't be Kurosaki, Sado, Ishida, and Inoue) had never had before. When Orihime felt dangerous, like a mother wolf or lioness or some other wild protector, there was something very, very wrong in the world.

The school watched closely, during classes, comparing theories at lunch, observing constantly. Then, the changes were carefully noted.

Kurosaki had always had a scowl on his face, but that no longer existed, wiping his face clean of any expression, which when coupled with his dead, hard eyes were enough to almost permanently prevent anyone from approaching him. They were all harder, more dead.

Sado was always the quiet one, but now he was even quieter, despite his size. But they'd all gotten quieter. Sado took it almost one step further, though, blending into the almost nonexistent shadows of the classroom's last row.

Ishida became even more neurotic than before, but that was the only difference their classmates noticed and reported. People still approached him for help with sewing projects. They'd learned not to touch him, though. The last person had a near miss with a sewing needle, only to be saved by the zombified version of Kurosaki. (Few knew that it was actually one of the modified reiatsu swords the Quincy always kept on him. Ichigo had stopped him before anyone actually got hurt.)

Inoue had the most drastic change. Where once they had seen a cheerful, albeit ditzy girl, her head always in the clouds, yet somehow managing to transmit enough data to her body for her to be one of the top students in the grade, there was now a calmer, mature woman in her place. She tried to keep her peers from noticing, but they'd all noted on her newly acquired ability to deal with Chizuru. They'd also become aware that no one should insult or insinuate anything bad about the other three within her presence. That was a wish for slow torture under and aura of pure protective malevolence (and wasn't that sort of an oxymoron?).

What solidified it, the change or event – the thing, in their minds was when Ichigo had rejoined gym class.

~IiI~

Apparently, whatever had happened to the four teens had managed to wound Kurosaki badly enough that he wasn't allowed to participate in gym classes (or any strenuous activity) for over a month. By this point, most of the more obvious changes had been noted by the others on the running list of Things to Not Do Around Kurosaki and Friends. No one had wanted to accidently do something they'd seriously regret. Most of the students had reasonable self-preservation instincts. Those that didn't…well, everyone was generally glad to be rid of them for some time.

Of course, as the boys and girls were assigned to change mostly within the classrooms, all of the boys in Kurosaki's class were sneaking glances at the carrot-haired teen. He'd almost never missed gym class before, so whatever his reason was, they all wanted to witness it.

When Kurosaki had finally unbuttoned his uniform shirt and quickly removed it in favor of the white T-shirt that was the standard gym uniform, the boys noticed the multitude of discolored skin that covered his back and shoulders.

Thin lines, thick lines, oddly shaped marks and other collections of scars littered the teen's body. Most seemed to be healed, but there were still others that seemed to burn an angry red in the florescent lighting, seeming to challenge the other boys to deny their existence on their peer's back.

The multiple inhalations of breath was the signal for Kurosaki and Sado, who had previously been waved away by Kurosaki, as if making to cover him from their formerly curious gazes, to leave the room. No one heard their footsteps before or after the door was gently slid close, offering the slightest of noises to their ears in the silence that consumed the room and its occupants.

One boy, interested in being a doctor for the sake of science and helping people, summed up the other's sentiments when he bravely broke the silence with a quiet but emphatic, "Holy _shit._"

~IiI~

Now the rumor mill was working in overtime to ensure that the student population of the school heard the rumors of Kurosaki's scars.

Of course, if the way the other three acted, it was safe to be that they, too, had scars.

The girls pointed out how Orihime was never seen without her torso covered in every way, even when brought shopping for swimsuits with some of her more distant acquaintances and Tatsuki for emotional (and unbiased) support.

Ishida, no one actually knew about, since his friends could be counted on one hand, specifically three fingers, and the student body knew that the three friends he did have wouldn't help them.

Chad still wore short-sleeved button-down shirts when students passed him on the sidewalk during the weekend, but where he had once left many of the upper buttons undone, showing off his chest, an undershirt appeared beneath it.

~IiI~

"Has anyone seen any new scars on them?" a girl whispered to her friend in the bathroom.

"No," came the equally quiet reply. "People think they're done with whatever they did."

"Good. Kurosaki may not have been the nicest person, but he did help me out once. I'd like to return the favor."

"Mmm. Yeah. Inoue-chan was always fun to hang out with, too…"

Unfortunately, the girls didn't remember the echoing qualities of school bathrooms and that occasionally teachers also frequented the same facilities. Ms. Ochi's face went pale, even as she promised herself to find out the circumstances surrounding her favorite student and his closest friends.

~IiI~

And so the teachers became involved.

Ms. Ochi hadn't wanted to break Kurosaki's trust, but nothing she did resulted in information. Everything was the same.

For four months, October to January, Kurosaki and his friends disappeared. No matter how many times the school called to alert their guardians, they never showed up. "Family matters," Kurosaki Isshin claimed, though his daughters still attended the middle school.

"Business," stated Ishida Ryuuken.

No one answered for either Sado or Inoue.

None of their friends knew where they had gone or what they had done, but after those four months, the children had returned as adults. Frightening adults.

But they acted normal. Or, normally. Ish. To an extent. Whatever had hardened their eyes and snatched the childhood from their souls had resulted in maturity that none of their classmates could relate to, even as the four attempted to restart old routines.

While Ms. Ochi had been researching, another teacher of the four had noticed her notes and pledged his help to her cause. Even teachers that didn't like Kurosaki or Sado for their reputations, attitudes, or hair color (obviously only Kurosaki) agreed to help during an unofficial staff meeting, since they did like Inoue and Ishida (if only because some of those teachers wanted to keep two of their top students).

That was when the shit really hit the fan.

~IiI~

Ichigo wasn't really surprised by the amount of attention that he and his friends gained when they'd returned from the so-called Winter War. Karakura was fairly insular and people who'd grown up with them attended Karakura High. Questions were a certainty.

What he and the others (and their parents to a lesser extent, but wasn't that just _sad_ that their parents didn't even think of the effects of the war on their psyche beyond the loss, death, despair, helplessness –?) hadn't thought to account for were the teachers. The adults had issued orders during the war, but Ichigo took charge of his own small band of followers to go where they could do the most damage, so the "orders" were more along the lines of directions – go left, Fifth division needs some help; there's a large mass of low level Hollow headed for the base of Third division and they have minimal personal as the main force is attacking with the Sixth division; HEL –!

So, it was understandably a fairly large surprise to them that the teachers were going to such lengths for them, especially because more than half of them despised Ichigo and barely tolerated Chad. On the other hand, being brought to the police station wasn't quite on Ichigo's list of things to do.

* * *

So, yeah. I did just leave Ichigo in the police station.

As always, constructive criticism is welcome, so please leave a review?

~Illusion~


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**A/N:** And here's part two. Apparently my muse had decided that a two shot is not long enough (unless I make this chapter massive, which I currently don't have the time for as it increases the likelihood that I'll lose the mood and it'll come out crappy in parts).

Again, please keep in mind that this is an AU. Ichigo does still have his powers and the war with Aizen was more than a scouting party, an abduction, a rescue that could've been choreographed and one final epic battle where Ichigo losses his powers. How did Ichigo actually defeat the Demented Butterfly? Well, I'll see if I get to that in this story.

**Warnings:** Supposed child abuse (you'll see what I mean), language, and incorrect insides of police stations (hey, I've never been to one and I'm making full use of my artistic license. Deal with it.), change of view point, though I think it's easy enough to figure out (if not, someone'll tell me and I'll change it)

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the rights to Bleach. Tite Kubo owns the rights along with Shonen Jump and whoever else to which he sold the rights.

* * *

The silence had been necessity and then it was necessity and trauma.

~IiI~

Ichigo stared at the white walls of the interrogation room. Really, there was no need for the formalities, but he guessed they needed statements for whatever fictional reason the teachers had given to have him and the others brought in.

Beneath the table, Ichigo's hands twitched in irritation, repressed panic and fear, and above all the nearly overwhelming feeling of tiredness. He didn't need anymore shit. None of them did. And the whiteness wasn't helping. Everything was ironically black and white in Heuco Mundo, Las Noches most of all – and they'd all seen enough of that building and its remains to last them the lifetime of their memories (because he'd say life, but his afterlife was looking like it'd be pretty long and he'd still have his memories of the White Hell).

He could feel his friends/comrades, waiting in a separate area, their reiatsu telegraphing their emotions to anyone who could read them – and he was one of the best in that area. The three were all crowded together, almost close enough to gain suspicion but they were too careful for that, especially in an uncontrolled situation. They were relying on him, who had volunteered to go first as the leader, to determine what was need to be done and relay the necessary information to them. He wouldn't – couldn't – let them down now, when they were just barely starting to truly heal (or at least let the wounds scab over).

The sound of the door opening, next to the wall of mirrors, which from his vague memories of police shows meant that it was two-way glass, pulled him from his inner promises and planning.

A man of medium height entered the too white room and closed and locked the door behind him. Ichigo tensed slightly, disliking an obvious exit being barred from him, though he was sure that if he truly needed to escape, focusing his reiatsu on the door would break it. As long as it wasn't reinforced with seki-seki stones, of course. In that case then –.

The man sat down across from him and looked at a file in front of him, presumably a file on Ichigo himself. Ichigo just watched, face impassive. The man before him was no threat to him physically.

Finally, the man looked up from the paper to lock his gaze on Ichigo's eyes. Ichigo continued to observe.

"Hello, Kurosaki-kun. I'm sorry that we've met under such circumstances, but due to the reports filed by your teachers, I need to ask you some questions."

Ichigo continued to stare at him. If he wasn't going to be forced to answer the damn questions, he wouldn't do more than necessary. What did these people know about him and his friends? They certainly couldn't hear the truth. Beyond breaking the rules, who would believe them?

"Also, this conversation is being recorded for documentation purposes."

Blank face.

"Alright. This is Yakudatsu Shaku interviewing Kurosaki Ichigo after intervention on his and three others' behalf by their teachers at Karakura High School. Pending investigation of potential child abuse."

_What?_

"I shall begin the questions now."

Ichigo mentally shook his head while Sekkouboku recovered from their shared shock and began laughing uproariously. Zangetsu was quietly thinking of responses that would be acceptable, leaving Ichigo to contemplate the irony of the situation. All things considered, he supposed that, technically, as he and the others were minors, that it was child abuse, but not of the typical kind. Most child abuse doesn't revolve around child soldiers, at least in Japan.

"Your name is Kurosaki Ichigo, correct?"

"Yes," came the reply in a monotone that would do a robot proud.

The man didn't look the slightest bit disturbed.

"You are currently 17 years old, correct?"

And so the questions continued until the hard ones began.

~IiI~

"Can you tell me what you were doing for the time between October and January of this year?"

"Yes." It _was_ technically possible for him to open his mouth and have his brain direct his voice box to explain the Winter War.

"…Would you elaborate?"

"No."

Another note was added.

"Alright. There are reports about a variety of scars from your fellow students at Karakura High School. Would you explain how you go them?"

"No."

"…You do realize that you will be forced to undergo an examination, correct?"

The slightest frown creased his brow. He didn't plan on subjecting himself to that, even if he did have to physically destroy the room. Showing off his scars wouldn't do them a damn bit of good. They wouldn't be able to tell when a Cero barely missed a vital area, where he was nearly bisected by a certain demented butterfly's Zanpakutou. All they would see were wounds and a desperate and helpless teen. At this point, he was neither and he would do almost anything in his power to keep it that way.

~IiI~

The next victim was called in. Ichigo, before leaving the room, pulsed his reiatsu twice to signal that it was safe, but tinged the power with feelings of caution and a slight discomfort. He had been right, after all. The man hadn't been a threat to his physical wellbeing, but mental and emotional wellbeing were fair game.

Instead of being escorted back to his friends, Ichigo was placed in another room. This one was almost exactly like the ones in Las Noches – white, white_whiteWHITE_! Zangetsu calmed him down before anything inexplicable happened, but Ichigo was still tense, even as he felt Ishida's reiatsu in the room next to his, where he had just been.

It didn't help his stress or anxiety levels when the man who appeared looked like Ishida's and Renji's descriptions of the Octava Espada – thin but not overly tall, rectangular glasses, golden eyes, and though his hair was not pink, it was cut to be slightly long, reaching his ears. The smile the man wore did everything but calm Ichigo.

"Hello, Kurosaki-san. I have a test I'd like to give you."

If that wasn't reason for Ichigo to contemplate blasting his way through the room next door, grabbing Ishida and signaling for Chad to grab Orihime and _leave_, he didn't know what was. Zangetsu, however, being the calm and influence being he was, pointed out that the man in front of him didn't have any spiritual pressure whatsoever and was not the threat he though he was. On the other hand, his Hollow was worried about the slowly decaying status of their inner world – beginning to undo what reconstruction they had – from the other person's intrusive questions.

But it wasn't like the man was going to stop speaking or giving his test.

"I'm going to show you a set of cards with ink splatters on them. I'd like you to tell me what you see."

Ichigo didn't move from his standing position, but carefully nodded, in the vain hope that he could leave soon.

"Alright, here's the first one." A card is held up. "What do you see?"

'A blob. A furry blob. A furry blob an a smaller one connected to it, just like Grand Fisher!'

"A fish."

The man marked a note on the same file that that Ichigo has seen the other man use.

"How about this one?"

'A cat, it's black though… black cats, large cats, Pantera, Grimmjow.'

"A panther."

Another note.

~IiI~

Ishida was being even more uncooperative than Kurosaki was, if that's possible. At least the supposed delinquent gave a reasonable answer. Every retort is now pure snark and cynicism and sarcasm. The man is trying to restrain the urge to throttle the glasses wearing teen. But at least he seems more in line with what his personality was before the period of absence the four shared. It's just…magnified.

Sighing, Yakudatsu returned his attention to the last set of questions. Maybe this one would be more forthcoming about the concerns that the teachers had raised.

Maybe.

…Yeah right.

~IiI~

"And this card?"

'Nel.'

"A centaur."

'Blood.'

"…Ketchup from my sister's omu-rice."

'…Kenpachi?!'

"Bells."

'_Aizen._'

"… … A Demented Butterfly." He kept his voice level even, although it took him too long to respond. The look the man gives him tells him so. Even though it's a weird view of the card, it's more than he's given them so far.

"Thank you, Kurosaki-kun. I think that's all we have time for right now. Follow me and I'll escort you to the front examination room. We need a physical and then you can wait in the foyer for your friends."

Ichigo can only nod, slightly distracted, as he frantically flashed to Ishida warnings about this man and his test and to keep calm and not kill the man.

He hopes it worked.

~IiI~

He got Kurosaki's message. Mostly warnings and that peculiar feeling of calm and placation when he knows that there's someone doing something that will make him want to turn another into a pincushion. Ishida just didn't expect the man in front of him. Now Kurosaki's warning made sense.

~IiI~

It was Orihime's turn to enter the interrogation room and she worried about how it would go after keeping tract of Ichigo-kun's and Uryuu-kun's reiatsu and projected emotions. She's not looking forward to the experience. But she steels herself to act like the person she was Before.

Her acting could have been more difficult. She had somewhat maintained her ability to be optimistic, despite the carnage she'd been forced to cause (because no, letting someone kill Ichigo-kun or Uryuu-kun or Chad-kun was something she rejected with her entire being, let alone her Soten Kisshun), but it was fractured. Her days were spent trying to maintain a cheerful veneer over her tumultuous emotions. The mask held, most days, but woe betided anyone who sought to somehow harm her boys. Orihime would've been the one with the highest body count if Ichigo didn't let his Hollow, jokingly called Snowberry, take over in some of the battles, just so they could survive and wrap their wounds before chasing the few remain Hollows and charging back into battle. Some might have called her bipolar, but that wasn't completely correct. She was just trying to find her balance. They all were.

Why couldn't they be left _alone_?

~IiI~

Ichigo was incredibly uncomfortable at being forced from his clothes so the doctor and nurse could look at him and his scars, documenting them if the notes and camera flashes were anything to go by. His apathy and temper, already put to a test by the previous men and their questions, was just waiting to snap. He just needed a target.

~IiI~

Finally he was done – free to go and leave and flee, to figuratively lick his wounds. But he wouldn't leave his comrades here without support, so he settled to wait. He might as well try and fix the new damage done to his inner world, futile though it may be at this time.

~IiI~

Being escorted to a laboratory by a man very similar to one who had relished crushing his organs was not what Ishida had expected this Saturday afternoon. It was also something he'd rather not repeat, lest the man be killed. It was so very, very tempting after those disturbing inkblots.

~IiI~

Orihime was fairly sure she'd done a reasonable job on that test, concocting a random and outrageous story for why they'd been away and the alleged scars. Now she just had to deal with the one Ishida-kun wanted to kill.

Hopefully she wouldn't, too.

~IiI~

"Your name is Yasutora Sado, correct?"

No response.

"You are nearly 18 years old, correct?"

No response.

…This was going to take a while.

~IiI~

They were finally all through the process, leaving as quickly as they could without raising suspicion to the park where Ichigo had met with Rukia to work on his aim and ability to kill Hollows (the most useless exercised he'd ever had to participate in, even if it was funny now). However, nothing they could have done saved the pictures of themselves from Ichigo's wrath. Not that anyone complained. It was only slightly less invasive than being under Kurotsuchi's scrutinization.

"So," Ichigo said, settling against a tree, "the teachers' think we're all been abused, for whatever reason, at the same time, for four months."

A sharp jerk of a head from Ishida, a quick bob from Orihime, and a slow nod from Chad are his answers.

Running a hand through his hair, Ichigo released a sigh and tried to calm his temper so that he can think of the best possibilities for his friends and not gearing up to murder all the well-meaning teachers.

"Well, as far as I can tell, we've got a couple of options. One, the most legal extreme, is to just leave. Two, try and talk it over with them and get them to understand that their intervention isn't necessary. I'm just not sure how we could do that. They seem pretty convinced. Three, get Getaboshi to modify their memories. We have barely a month left before we can leave and claim to be going to college.

"What do you guys want to do?"

Silence.

"Well, we can't let them take Isshin-san and Ryuuken-san to court for child abuse, but I think we'd draw more attention to ourselves if we just up and left. I think that we should try and confront the teachers and get them to drop the charges – we can always steal the "evidence" back from the police and modify some memories. If that doesn't work, we'll have to modify their memories to finish the school year," Orihime said.

"I agree. We're almost done with the school year and it would raise fewer suspicions if we were to leave after it than now."

Chad also nods in agreement, adding, "We may have some problems if we have to confront the teachers. We'll need another plan."

The other three nod.

"Alright. We'll stick out the next month, try and get the teachers off our backs and failing that modify their and the police officers' memories."

A content silence settles over them, until Ishida interrupts it.

"What are we going to tell our parents?"

Ichigo winces.

* * *

**Notes:**

Sekkouboku - Snowberry, as those that've read Nighttime on the Spirit Train will know.

**I'm not sure exactly how long this one will be. I also can't tell you when I'll update next because it's dependent on my mood. I can promise that I'll finish this, eventually.**

**Reviews are always welcome.**

**~Illusion~**


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